The Stone Cold Pack of Weirdos

Current Contributors:

Kevin Cole founded The Annual after finding himself in a weird state of discontent with the straight-to-DVD state of the National Lampoon. He is a Full Sail University Grad and a company member at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre where he is the host and showrunner of The Last Hurrah a free weekly comedy show/live podcast.

Isabel Duarte is a Hood College graduate with a B.A. in History and Gender & Sexuality Studies. She performs regularly with improv troupe, Quattro Formaggio, and Temple of Improv!, based in Baltimore. She currently works as a cosmetologist for Jewel Hair Design and does hair for bridal parties. Isabel will be relocating to Chicago in summer 2015 to continue growing her improv experience.

Briana Haynie was born 23 years ago and almost killed her mother in the process but don’t worry, they’re cool. Briana has a day job but she’s afraid to mention the name of the company she works for in case they find this site and decide to fire her. She’s also a member of Hartford, CT’s leading Improv company, Sea Tea Improv. In addition to The Annual, you can find her writing on her Tumblr and her Twitter. Enjoy!

David Luna started drawing at the age of 2 and never stopped. He’s an illustrator, a cartoonist, and a journalist. He is currently organizing an expanding artist community based on unity, self-reflection, and art for the sake of art. When one practices and developed any ability with mindfulness and sincerity, deep introspection and personal growth naturally follow.

Christine is a comedy writer and sign language interpreter in Frederick, Maryland. She also does stand-up, but as it turns out, she much prefers sitting down. (This is one of her favorite jokes to tell on stage even though it never works.) A strong proponent of warm cheeses, the Oxford comma, and proper grammar, Christine is just looking to make this world a better place, one offensive joke at a time.

Emily Perper’s earliest memory is reading a book about dinosaurs aloud to her kindergarten teacher. An English major, she served as Managing Editor of her college newspaper and Production Director of its literary magazine until she graduated in 2012. During the summers, she wrote for a daily newspaper and coordinated interfaith dialogue. Today she freelances, stage manages, temps for The Government and contributes weekly Reading Lists to Longreads.com. She also manages her own longform journalism appreciation blog, Diet Coker (a titular homage to T.S. Eliot’s “East Coker”). She loves cleaning her room, female musicians and Mountain Goats. She hates the patriarchy and waking up from naps. Find her @Emily_Perper.

Thomas Scholtes has been making people laugh ever since he said bowl cuts were the way of the future, and he hasn’t stopped since! (Stopped getting bowl cuts, that is) In high school English, Thomas continued his creativity by writing the first sentence of a ridiculous story, then passing it to his friends to continue the story one sentence at a time, seeing who could come up with the most outlandish situations. This went on during the regular lessons, and he still managed all A’s! So, he’s like really smart. Then in college, Thomas found his calling writing comedy sketches for The Bureau, then performed with the group for four years, until graduating and finding another local comedy group, The Comedy Pigs, to force his idea of what is funny upon the populous. He has continued to grow (wider, not taller), and loves working with all the beautiful and hardcore people at The Annual. Please keep reading all the work here. Like, now. Go. Go read an article already! …

Thomas also likes Air Force One, enjoys beating children at poker, and will help you finish that pack of clove cigarettes after having a few whiskey shots and losing his sweatshirt.

Parker Benbow graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Communication Arts. He has since been living in the Nashville, TN area, working freelance as an illustrator and designer, but is gearing up to move back to Richmond and continue illustrating with a goal of working on a children’s book. Until then, you can find Parker working at Shrine Mont Camps in the summer and trying to enjoy life year round.

Lisa Burl | Writer

Lisa Burl is a company member at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre where he co-created the hit sketch show about love and relationships Balls Deep In Love. She is also a regular on the live episodic series Laugh Station.

Miguel Castro is a frustrated scholar from Miami, FL. Having completed a B.A. in Literature from the University of Central Florida (UCF), he is now debating whether to pursue another equally useless graduate degree in philosophy. To date, Miguel has published poetry in admit2 and written a novel about St. Francis of Assisi and stung-out musicians which will never see the light of day. He is also a connoisseur of hate mail, so please forward your invectives to the editors.

Nicolas Contreras is 23 years old and attended Full Sail University, majoring in film studies. His interests are photography, writing, filming, drawing, drinking, and driving. Nicolas is currently working two jobs in hopes of saving up to move to New York or California. His influences are Louis C.K., Patton Oswalt, Richard Pryor, Dan Harmon, Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, and James Stewart.

Lily Fryburg is currently finishing her junior year of college as a double major in Theatre and Music. Aside from comedy, Lily’s passions include sustainability, singing, and doing celebrity impersonations.

Amber George | Writer

Amber George is an English major at Hood College, spiraling towards a few decades of existential crises and debt– but she will be well read! In her spare time, she participates in the theater department and bakes dairy free desserts. Sometimes, she has grand designs of becoming Overlord of Canada, but then she wakes up.

Stuart Gunter plays drums, writes this ongoing series about a record shop (based on real conversations), teaches school, and is pursuing his M.Ed. He likes to paddle rivers, eat BLTs, and take long walks on the beach. Moonlit walks.

Hannah Gutman is an actor, comedian, writer, and amateur puppet-builder. She is currently studying Theatre and Creative Writing at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She is president of JMU Destination Imagination, an organization that promotes teamwork and creative problem solving. When she isn’t in class or writing for The Annual, she can be found waiting tables and asking elderly customers for advice about life and crossword puzzles. This summer she will be heading to Las Vegas to try her hand at gambling and interning with a film production company. Her goals for the future are simple, to laugh and make others do the same, and finally getting around to watching Lost (no spoilers!).

Matt Lee sleeps and writes in Frederick, MD. He is an active member of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, where he performs, produces, and teaches. He is currently studying English at Hood College.

Robert Martin | Writer/Intern

Robert Martin is an organist, orchestra conductor and traditional Irish musician. Robert is currently serving as organist and orchestra director at Montgomery United Methodist Church in Damascus, Maryland and is a barista at the local Starbucks during the week. After hours, Robert can be found playing fiddle at Baltimore’s finest Irish pubs. Though constantly busy, Robert will always spare time to discuss his true love: the Legend of Zelda series. Robert plans on studying for a Masters of Arts in Arts Management this coming fall in Ireland.

Andrew Michaels has been writing since his elementary school days. Years later, he attended Towson University with the hopes of becoming a mathematics teacher. It was during his freshmen year that Andrew rediscovered his passion for writing and quickly switched his major to Mass Communication with a track in journalism. After graduating in December 2013, Andrew continues to work as a freelance journalist while searching for a career in his field. His other hobbies include improvisation, watching movies, golfing, and bowling.

Damon Norko began his writing career with a sign on his back: ‘Poems-4-Sale’. He showcased these poems in his rock band, The Submensas, from 1983-93. In 1987, Damon moved to Baltimore and opened the Art Attic art gallery, a Kinko’s store, and a chess store. Now, he’s an English/drama teacher with two novel credits to his name, The Glue Story (1990), and The Delilah Factor (2010). Lately, Damon has fallen in love with the short story. His five recent stories, Smarties!, Bodies!, Wordies!, Townies!, and now, Foodies!, focus on the collision of technology with human nature. Smarties!, the first in the series, has just been published in the literary magazine, The Loch Raven Review. Recently, Damon has fallen into the role of directing plays – what a wonderful experience! He recently directed Twelfth Night and Curtains! At Linganore High School and truly have caught the theater bug as well. Look for his play, My Brother the God Particle, and other projects at a stage and/or screen near you!

Buddy Purucker spent his early education drawing comics for fun. In high school, he focused on graphic design, where he learned Photoshop and Illustrator. Later, Buddy earned his bachelors in Video Game Art from Full Sail University. Currently, Buddy lives at home in Battle Creek, Michigan, hopping from job to job while creating artwork for The Annual on the side. Within a few years, he hopes to move to Washington and work for a video game company. Buddy has various interests, including science, religion, history, and anthropology. His hobbies are hiking, building computers, and art.

Brad Rosen |Writer

Cassie Schaeffer | Writer

Cassie Schaeffer is a senior studying at Hood College in Frederick, MD. She will be graduating in May with a B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a minor concentration in Coastal Studies. By day, she works as a research assistant for the Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies, studying methods to prevent the eutrophication of urban waterways. By night, she is a member of the Frederick based improv troupe, Quattro Formaggio. They perform every Friday night in Hampden as the Temple of Improv (ToI!) house team.

Kate Sidley is a comedy writer and improviser living in NYC. She is a proud co-founder of Sea Tea Improv and co-producer of the Hartford Improv Festival. In NYC, Kate trains at the Upright Citizens Brigade and performs with the teams Save the Last Dance and Bermuda. She also writes for the sketch teams Moose and Mint. Kate attributes her humor to being born and raised in Cleveland, OH–the city which is itself the punchline to half of all jokes in existence.

Steve Younkins has a BA in English with a writing minor from Hood College in Frederick, MD, where he is currently enrolled in the Masters in the Humanities program with a concentration in being a huge literature nerd. He has drawn comics semi-professionally since 2007. In addition to “Doomsday Sandwich,” he writes and draws a thrice weekly webcomic about Theatre Tech called “Q2Q Comics.” He lives in Hagerstown, MD with his books and pencils.